About Ayu's Singing Voice type

[Lanz16]

I just wonder what kind of singing voice of Ayu.

Anyone who knows about it?
Thanks!

[Embleu]

I don't know how her voice would be classified by Western convention (as soprano, alto, etc.), but there was an article published by Cambridge University Press that says

"One of the most persistent qualities of singing in both traditional and popular music since the time of the first recordings of Japanese performances is that of a thin, somewhat rasping yet strong tone produced by forcing a narrow, dense air stream through constricted vocal cords. This effect, and the techinque of producing it, is described in general musical discourse as jigoe (literally, 'ground' or 'basic voice'). It is particularly clear in high-pitched passages, where there is often a conspicuous avoidance of uragoe, a kind of falsetto - in effect a weaker, purer sound produced with loosened vocal cords. Jigoe technique is evident, for example, in the Edo period shamisen song genre of kouta, as well as some styles of minyou singing.

...

More recently, the extremely popular singer-composer of dance-style pop, Hamasaki Ayumi, almost invariably sings in jigoe when she moves into higher registers, as can be clearly heard in the choruses of 'Monochrome', the opening song of her 1999 album, A."

But that's about as much as I know.

[zyoeru]

^ That's interesting. I've always wondered what she'd be classed as, it seems though that most popular singers are either soprano or mezzo-soprano, so I would go with soprano. But I don't study music so I'll probably be wrong.

[Andrenekoi]

I don't think that it's good to use an article based on her voice before 2002, 2003... she wasn't skilled as a singer... she used to sing really bad on that era (ok, some like the way she sang, but u need some vocal develpment in order to know wich kind of voice u have)

[zyoeru]

^ I like all of Ayumi's singing styles.
Except when she sung Dearest last year. :O

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Furashubakku

^ I like all of Ayumi's singing styles.
Except when she sung Dearest last year. :O

hahaha I know there are a lot of people who like the way she sang...
but still, not a good example of her kind of voice^^

[slashess]

I would consider her a soprano because she doesn't sound like an alto at all (utada is more of an Alto than anything)

[pommy48]

@_@ ayu just sounds like everything to me, a soprano in her earlier days, a second soprano from RAINBOW to now, and some parts of a song, she sound like an alto to me~

[dreamland2.0]

She has a very large range, so it is difficult to classify her voice.

[AyUta]

Originally Posted by Embleu

I don't know how her voice would be classified by Western convention (as soprano, alto, etc.), but there was an article published by Cambridge University Press that says

"One of the most persistent qualities of singing in both traditional and popular music since the time of the first recordings of Japanese performances is that of a thin, somewhat rasping yet strong tone produced by forcing a narrow, dense air stream through constricted vocal cords. This effect, and the techinque of producing it, is described in general musical discourse as jigoe (literally, 'ground' or 'basic voice'). It is particularly clear in high-pitched passages, where there is often a conspicuous avoidance of uragoe, a kind of falsetto - in effect a weaker, purer sound produced with loosened vocal cords. Jigoe technique is evident, for example, in the Edo period shamisen song genre of kouta, as well as some styles of minyou singing.

...

More recently, the extremely popular singer-composer of dance-style pop, Hamasaki Ayumi, almost invariably sings in jigoe when she moves into higher registers, as can be clearly heard in the choruses of 'Monochrome', the opening song of her 1999 album, A."

But that's about as much as I know.

Interesting. I could have sworn I read this somewhere before. Thanks for posting!

[asmAyumi1992]

She has various type of voice

[jiarongisme]

I would classify Ayu as a Mezzo Soprano. But that's just my opinion.